Is Easter Sunday a Bank Holiday?

Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings folks but no, Easter Sunday is not a bank holiday in the UK, nor is it a public holiday, but it is an important day in the Christian calendar and many people take a long weekend off work with Good Friday and Easter Monday.

School holidays mark Easter as a holiday but given that it’s a moveable feast, the date can vary considerably.

Read on to find out why …

Easter Bank Holidays 2018

Day

Date

Holiday

Coverage

Friday

30 March

Good Friday

All UK

Sunday

1 April

Easter Sunday

(Not a bank holiday)

Monday

2 April

Easter Monday

All UK (ex. Scotland)

Easter Bank Holidays 2019

Day

Date

Holiday

Coverage

Friday

19 April

Good Friday

All UK

Sunday

21 April

Easter Sunday

(Not a bank holiday)

Monday

22 April

Easter Monday

All UK (ex. Scotland)

Easter Bank Holidays 2020

Day

Date

Holiday

Coverage

Friday

10 April

Good Friday

All UK

Sunday

12 April

Easter Sunday

(Not a bank holiday)

Monday

13 April

Easter Monday

All UK (ex. Scotland)

Despite Easter being one of the most important events in the Christian calendar it is not a bank holiday. Both Good Friday and Easter Monday are bank holidays, but not Easter Sunday.

The development of bank holidays began with the Bank Holidays Act of 1871 when the Right Honourable Sir John Lubbock MP proposed a list of statutory holidays to be taken throughout the UK and Ireland. Initially this included Easter Monday in England, Wales and Ireland, and Good Friday in Scotland.

To quote Wikipedia “The Act did not include Good Friday … as bank holidays in England, Wales, or Ireland because they were already recognised as common law holidays: they had been customary holidays since before records began.”